I Didn't Mean To Hurt You, Too
by muggleborn.dragon.ryder
Summary: Snotlout loved pranks. He always had, and every Halloween he pulled a prank on somebody, normally Fishlegs because it never took a lot to scare him. And when he decides to pull a seemingly harmless Halloween prank on Hiccup, it goes wrong and backfires terribly. Can Snotlout convince him he never meant to hurt him? Rated T for mild gore. Any OOC-ness is hopefully within reason
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So...this is my Halloween fic! I'm REALLY, REALLY EXCITED FOR THIS. All my other Halloween fanfics for my other fandoms are probably going to be one-shots. **

**Anyway, here's the first chapter and I hope you all enjoy it very much! **

* * *

Snotlout raised his fist and tentatively knocked on the chief's door. He heard uneven footsteps and ragged, pained breathing.

He winced a little upon hearing what a bad state Hiccup was in. They'd all seen it, they'd all seen his leg, twisted and mangled and maimed…

Despite being a Viking, his stomach tightened upon thinking of what his cousin's leg had looked like both before the amputation and again last night – not that he'd gotten to see much of it the first time.

The adults had told the teens to stay away from Hiccup after he woke up, because he was going to need time to recover from his prosthetic and the battle with the Red Death, which, admittedly, was enough to give the toughest hero in the archipelago nightmares, and certainly Hiccup had awoken with cold sweat on his face once or twice.

Astrid had, of course, completely ignored the "stay away from Hiccup" rule, elbowing her way through the crowd and kissing him full on the lips seconds after he'd exited his house.

Snotlout's stomach twisted into a tighter knot as he thought of everything that had happened the previous night and as his thoughts neared his cousin's moan of pain, the fallen tree, the twisted leg, mangled, broken, newly throbbing, the door opened roughly and he raised his eyes to see Hiccup standing there, face pale, leaning heavily on the door so as not to put too much weight on his aching leg.

He struggled to stand a little taller, trying not to lean on the doorframe so much when he saw who it was. "Snotlout," he whispered, and just that single word seemed to take so much strength from the smaller boy, "what do you want?"

'Vikings never apologize'. That was one of the most popular mottos on Berk. Apologizing just wasn't the done thing.

The only exception was in family matters.

But generally, it was not the done thing to say 'I'm sorry' not even to your friend.

Snotlout had never been so glad Hiccup was his cousin. "I…Hiccup…"

But he couldn't make himself speak, not when Hiccup was right in front of him. The two words he'd been burning to say since last night seemed impossible to form now.

Hiccup's face remained impassive, his expression unreadable. Snotlout found himself wishing the boy didn't keep his guard up quite so much. If only he could hazard a mere guess at what the boy was thinking…

He gave Snotlout a curt nod and began struggling to shut the door and so Snotlout said the only thing that came to him, the only way to keep Hiccup talking. "Wait!" he blurted. "Did they fix your leg?"

For a second, there was that calm, unreadable expression on Hiccup's face and then a spasm of hurt, as if Snotlout had smacked him, flashed in his eyes before he spoke. Snotlout noted with relief that his voice was quite steady, but he'd rather Hiccup have broken down in tears than say what he did.

Hiccup didn't shut the door, but he said, in a voice of cold fury with that underlying note of sarcasm, "Thank you for _summing that up_."

And then the door slammed shut, leaving Snotlout alone in the cold November air, nothing but the guilt twisting his stomach in those tight little knots and the memory of Hiccup's face, the hurt in his bright green eyes, for company.

* * *

_Three days earlier…_

A lot can change in just three days, can't it?

Three days ago, it was nearing Halloween and Snotlout was teasing Hiccup, telling him he was a weakling and that he needed to toughen up and dodging well-aimed punches from Astrid for teasing her boyfriend (but both – especially Hiccup – blushed profusely whenever anyone called them that, so naturally, the twins went out of their way to do that all the time.)

Three days ago, everything was normal. It was far from perfect, in Snotlout's opinion, but it was normal and safe and – to the Snotlout of three days past – it_ was_ perfect.

It had been so easy and now, Snotlout almost wished it had been harder.

Harder, maybe, to convince Astrid not to tell.

Harder to persuade Hiccup to come into the woods on Halloween night.

Harder to get the twins to help him.

Harder to convince Fishlegs that this was funny, not mean.

Harder to get Hookfang, who normally so rarely listened, to singe the trunk of that tree and send it tumbling to earth.

Harder to scare Hiccup into running in the first place.

He wished he'd never had the idea at all, or that it had been much harder to carry out. If it had been, he might have given up. He wasn't like Hiccup – he carried none of his cousin's stubborn resilience.

He could've stepped back and thought, 'how would my cousin deal with this?' instead of 'how would I deal with this?'

If he had thought of a member of his family before himself, for once, he might never have done this at all.

But he had told the others excitedly about it, announcing eagerly that he was going to prank Hiccup on Halloween, at midnight, in the woods, hoping that the darkness of the forest might induce fear in the younger boy.

Just enough, he assured himself, to make the night unforgettable.

Snotlout loved pranks. He always had, he supposed.

"Why don't you like a quieter holiday?" he recalled Fishlegs tentatively asking him once. "Like Snoggletog or Valentine's Day?"

"Those days are for wimps!" Snotlout had snorted and Hiccup, who had been listening in, called back, "Because Snotlout is as obnoxious as Gobber is eccentric, Fishlegs."

Snotlout vaguely remembered issuing an empty threat at Hiccup then, and Hiccup had merely laughed and sped up, because he had learned long ago that Snotlout was all wind and no rain, although Snotlout hated his cousin knowing this.

And a couple of weeks later, he was excitedly explaining his prank to the twins, promising destruction if they helped him.

He'd blackmailed Fishlegs and now he wished he hadn't. He'd begged Astrid not to tell Hiccup about the prank, lied to her about what they were really going to do and now he wished he hadn't.

So much hurt so much damage – it all could have been avoided if only he hadn't been so stupid, too pleased with himself and what he considered to be an absolutely brilliant idea to care that it could possibly hurt the victim.

"Hey, Hiccup!" he called to the younger boy, the day before Halloween, as the auburn-haired Viking walked out of the training arena after a dragon training class. "Do you have any plans for tomorrow night?"

"No," Hiccup shrugged. "Why?"

"The others were planning on celebrating Halloween tomorrow, in Raven's Point Forest," Snotlout explained. "The party starts at eleven forty-five, right before midnight. It'll be epic. We'll tell ghost stories and roast marshmallows and try to scare each other silly! What do you think?" he grinned widely, pleased with himself and his explanation.

Hiccup deliberated for a moment, raising an eyebrow, clearly hesitating. "Uh…"

"C'mon," Snotlout urged. "I won't make the ghost stories too scary."

"This is just an attempt to scare Fishlegs with more of your little horror tales, isn't it?" Hiccup demanded, crossing his arms.

LONG silence.

"…Maybe," Snotlout admitted.

Hiccup smiled, shaking his head in amusement. "Okay. I'll come."

"Awesome!" Snotlout cheered and he saw surprise on Hiccup's face.

"You guys actually want me there?" The redhead asked.

Snotlout nodded eagerly. "You are my cousin, after all, and I barely know you! Time we got to know each other better!"

"While you're trying to scare me?"

"I'll be trying to scare Fishlegs," Snotlout corrected automatically. "You don't believe in ghosts."

This was, unfortunately, perfectly true.

Hiccup had never believed in anything supernatural or fantastical before, such as unicorns or the tooth fairy, Santa Claus or magical pixies.

He'd never believed in anything scary, either – magic, ghosts, zombies, vampires, and witches, to name a few, making pranking him all the harder, because Snotlout had to go out of his supernatural-comfort-zone to do so.

Hiccup sighed, then smiled a little wearily and nodded. "Okay. I'll be there at…what time did you say?"

"We'll be getting set up at about eleven-forty-five," Snotlout reminded him. "But you don't have to actually be there until eleven-fifty to around midnight, okay?"

"Alright."

As the two boys parted ways, Hiccup suddenly stopped and called tentatively, "Hey, Snotlout?"

"Yeah?" the bigger boy called, turning to face the red-head.

"Thanks," Hiccup smiled, and then he dashed off, back to his house, possibly to go for a flight on Toothless before the sun set, or to catch up to Astrid, or maybe to the forge.

Snotlout heard the twins cackling behind him and turned to see them, falling all over themselves in laughter.

Maybe if he hadn't joined in, this would never have happened.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**A/N: I'm sorry. It's dumb. I'm sorry. But you guys gave such a response that I decided to update again. **

* * *

Hiccup leaned against his door, breathing heavily as he struggled just to stay upright. Seeing Snotlout had been a lot more painful than he'd thought it would be.

His heart lifted momentarily when he reminded himself that at least the boy had cared enough to come see him, before this thought was almost immediately crushed when he remembered the boy's words: _"Did they fix your leg?" _

Hiccup was nothing but a show dog to him, a freak, something to be laughed at, something to entertain or amuse, but certainly not somebody whose feelings ought to be taken into account.

He gritted his teeth against the pain as he stumped back to his seat, his blood boiling, his stomach churning and waves of pain going up and down his leg, making it impossible to focus. He sat down heavily at the kitchen table, breathing rather hard from the exertion. He wished he didn't have to think anymore, think about how intrigued Snotlout must have been when he'd seen the twisted, mangled stump his injured leg had become last night.

It tied his stomach in knots to see blood, and every time he unwound the bandage, there was a little more, seeping out from the scarred stump.

He wondered what would've happened had the teens really just invited him to celebrate Halloween with him, how he might've been feeling now – certainly not angry and hurt.

He would've been teaching a dragon training class at this time, maybe afterwards talking with Gobber in the forge or riding with the other teens.

He wouldn't have been sitting there at the kitchen table three days ago, too in pain to even move. But then, a lot could change in just three days.

Three days ago, Hiccup was happy. The novelty of having killed the Red Death hadn't quite worn off the village yet, and as a result, everybody was talking to Hiccup still, congratulating him, thumping him on the back, leaving him feeling positively elated.

In Hiccup's little world, things had been far from normal three days ago – but to him, they had been just fine.

* * *

_Three days earlier…_

Fifteen minutes before midnight, Hiccup and Toothless flew to Raven's Point Forest, enjoying just looking at the stars and the clouds, Hiccup shivering a little every time the cold wind brushed by.

He landed in the forest and climbed off Toothless, detaching his prosthetic from the pedal and walked forward, Toothless traipsing behind him.

Something wasn't right.

He knew that this was the right spot – Astrid's axe and Ruffnut's helmet were even lying there and there was a bit of firewood in the spot.

So…where were they all?

He glanced warily around, calling out tentatively. "Astrid?"

No answer.

"Snotlout?"

Silence.

"Fishlegs?"

Nothing.

"Ruffnut? Tuffnut?"

How could silence be so loud?

He walked forward a little bit more, his prosthetic clinking and clanking on the hard ground as he walked, the cold wind biting at his cheeks and nose and arms, concealed behind thin cotton sleeves, and he shivered a little, wrapping his arms around himself.

The sound of Toothless' comforting, loping walk was the only thing that kept him going as he called out to them, before hearing a strange sound, a kind of roar, except he had never known a dragon to make that sound.

It was then that he realized that perhaps he should be quiet. He had never been scared in the forest before, but then, he had never been in the forest in the dead of night, searching for his lost friends before, either.

As far as he knew, no harmful creatures lived in the wood – but then, they were Vikings.

Anything could happen.

He realized that he hadn't heard any of Toothless' familiar moans for awhile and as he glanced around to check on the dragon, somebody suddenly came pelting out of the trees and pinned him to the ground, hands behind his back. He groaned and struggled to turn to see his attacker, but a blindfold was already being slipped over his eyes and all was blackness.

He struggled and he kicked out, feeling his prosthetic connect solidly with somebody's face. Pleased at their groan of pain, he forced himself to a standing position and fumbled with the blindfold before a hand suddenly closed over his, and a menacing voice whispered, "Keep it on."

Hiccup's hands slipped from the string. He knew that voice. He did. "Who—?"

"Shh," the voice said. "We're alone, Hiccup. I want your screams to be the loudest sound you make."

"Where's Toothless?" Hiccup demanded.

"Don't ask questions."

"Who are you?"

"I'm hurt," the voice replied sarcastically. "You mean you don't recognize me by voice alone?"

"No…" Hiccup mumbled, starting to feel like he should.

"I'll give you a hint, dragon conqueror: Berk's oldest and most feared enemy."

Hiccup inhaled sharply. "What have you done with Toothless?"

"I wouldn't be scared for the Night Fury right now, Hiccup," Alvin said. "I think, if I were in your shoes – well, shoe…" he paused and when he continued, Hiccup could hear the smirk in his voice. "…I'd be a little more concerned for myself."

"What are you doing on Berk?" Hiccup demanded.

"Seeing the sights," Alvin responded. "I heard the Isle of Berk is beautiful this time of year." He smirked upon using the same line Hiccup had on him a few weeks ago.

"My father will find out you're here," Hiccup said confidently. "My friends were here not too long ago—wait."

The icy hand of fear was clenching at his heart. What if Alvin had hurt them? "Where are my friends, Alvin?"

"Those no-hopers?" sneered Alvin. "You thought five teenagers were going to defeat me?"

"Well, one ninety-pound teenager did it before," Hiccup pointed out, sliding in a smirk of his own.

When Alvin next spoke, he didn't sound at all pleased. "You are skating on very thin ice, here, dragon conqueror. I wouldn't continue if I were you."

Hiccup opened his mouth to retort, but before he could, the voice spoke again. "NOW!"

Hiccup shot to the ground, covering his head, tensed for something dramatic – an explosion, a fireball, a dragon attack, a blow, maybe…

But nothing happened.

There was no marching of footsteps anymore and Hiccup saw his chance. Tearing off the blindfold, he sprinted away, back the way he'd come and he thought he heard a voice calling out after him, but it was drowned out by the sound of thick wood snapping…

Looking to his right, he spotted Hookfang singeing a tree's trunk and it was falling fast, so fast he wasn't sure he could get out of the way in time, not when he was standing right under it like that…

He threw himself out of the way as the trees crashed down, one right after the other, two unbelievably loud noises in what should have been a still, quiet night.

There was a burning pain in his leg.

And then all was still.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

* * *

There was utter silence for a few seconds.

And then the other teens sprinted out of the trees, shedding Outcast disguises and ripping off masks and Snotlout yanked his off as well as him and Hookfang ran towards the spot where Hiccup lay, stirring weakly and moaning in pain.

Toothless was already over there, nosing Hiccup affectionately, licking his ear and nuzzling his auburn hair with his nose.

"Okay…uh…Hiccup, just, d-don't…don't move," Snotlout whispered. His face was whiter than a ghost's as he said in a very quiet voice, "Hiccup hit a patch of ice and his prosthetic flew off when it happened…look over there for his leg, will you?"

Snotlout couldn't stop shaking. Astrid obediently went to look with the others, leaving Snotlout alone with his cousin.

The color was draining out of Hiccup's face; the boy was clearly in terrible agony.

"Uh, Hiccup, I just need you to stay very, very still," he whispered. He was grateful the other teens weren't there, especially Tuffnut: his throat burned with tears and his eyes stung with them, but he couldn't let them shed: Hiccup needed him too badly right then. "Just…stay…okay?"

Toothless was still nuzzling him and so Snotlout gently moved forward, pushing him out of the way. "Toothless," he said in his quietest, most serious voice, "stop."

Toothless stopped.

Snotlout smoothed down Hiccup's auburn hair, his hands slippery with sweat, or maybe that was the strangely crimson liquid dripping down from Hiccup's head…

_Please don't let that be what I think it is…please don't let it be…_

But there could be no mistaking the scarlet blood, shining under the light from a full moon.

Hiccup's pale lips opened and, where Snotlout expected words, out came a scream. "MY LEG!" he yelled. "MY LEG!"

"I know," Snotlout murmured feverishly. "I know, Hiccup, you're just…you're gonna be—

"_What's happened to my leg?" _Hiccup demanded in a painful, high-pitched voice that teetered on the edge of a scream.

Snotlout lifted up the tree's trunk, helped along slightly by Hookfang, who seemed to have guessed the seriousness of the situation and for once, wasn't interested in making things harder for Snotlout.

He swallowed when he realized what must've happened: the tree's trunk, already a bit weighty to most Vikings but with a heaviness that could crush someone like Hiccup in one swift blow, had fallen on Hiccup's leg – or what was left of it.

"Just hang on," Snotlout whispered. "Y-you're alright."

"It hurts," Hiccup whimpered.

"I know." Except he wouldn't know, Snotlout realized as he lifted up Hiccup's trouser leg to examine the injured stump. He would never know the physical pain, maybe, but he swore to himself he would never let himself forget the look on his cousin's face, or the way the boy's hands weakly clutched at his knee, or the way he kept shifting, as if he thought he could stand.

"It hurts," Hiccup repeated, in that same near-tears voice. "Make it stop. Please, please, please, make it stop."

He was barely in his head, Snotlout realized, remembering the blood that stained the larger boy's fingers still. He must've connected with the ground hard enough to maybe permanently damage something. Add that to the pain in his leg and it was a miracle Hiccup was still conscious enough to register pain.

Or…maybe not, Snotlout decided as he watched his cousin twist and turn and clutch so feebly at his leg, murmuring about how badly it hurt. Whatever this was, it was nowhere near a miracle.

Snotlout examined the bleeding stump and was still doing so when the other teens came around the corner, just in time to see Hiccup go completely limp, adding almost no more weight to Snotlout's supporting arm.

Fishlegs shrieked. "IS HE DEAD?!"

"Shh!" Snotlout chastised, although there was no one around to hear them. He didn't want even the moon, nor the stars to know what had ensued in this spot. The stars would look down at him with their cold disapproval and the moon would shake its ivory head, wondering why Snotlout had been such a fool; in truth, Snotlout was still wondering that himself.

He didn't even want the trees to hear their stiff, stilted conversation, for he didn't want the leaves to rustle and whisper, "Did you hear what those kids did to their friend?"

Guilt twisted Snotlout's stomach.

"No, he's not," Snotlout replied. "He's breathing, see?" he pointed at Hiccup's chest, which rose and fell unsteadily, in an almost constricted way, as if his breathing was slightly impaired due to pain.

_I'll bet it is, _Snotlout thought, with another pang of terrible guilt.

He raised his head and rubbed wearily at his eyes. "Did you guys find his leg?"

"Oh, we found it all right," Astrid said, glancing around at the other teens as if daring them to continue.

"When the tree fell on Hiccup, it didn't just fall on him," Fishlegs explained, in a surprisingly steady and calm voice. "It hit at least an extra ten feet of ground and well…it got Hiccup's prosthetic." The larger boy held up several large, shattered bits of metal, and Snotlout knew what they were.

Hiccup's prosthetic had been tough, but that tree had been tougher.

"What should we do?" Fishlegs asked, and it was then that his voice trembled. He glanced shakily down at the unconscious Hiccup, hands still weakly clutching at his leg. "Should we move him?"

"No," Astrid answered for Snotlout. "No, we shouldn't, until we see how bad the damage is. If Hiccup is seriously injured and his condition could be worsened if we try to pick him up, then one of us will…get Gothi and tell Stoick what's happened." Her own voice trembled noticeably halfway through her words.

She knelt down next to Snotlout, who had turned his attention back to the boy's leg. The stump was twisted at a horrible angle and there was bright red blood running from the end, softly pattering onto the grass.

When Snotlout rolled up the boy's other trouser leg, he realized that purplish-blue bruises stained the kneecap of the boy's good leg and that his ankle was twisted underneath him…

Snotlout swallowed.

Astrid glanced around at Snotlout. In her worry about Hiccup, she had never even considered what Snotlout was doing. She'd coaxed Toothless silently to come to her and when he had, she'd been given the job of keeping him back, a job she'd done well – she was a bit surprised when Snotlout came out of the bushes and attacked Hiccup like that, but she knew it was just Snotlout in Outcast garb, and so she'd calmly told the enraged Toothless that it was okay and that Snotlout didn't plan on hurting Hiccup.

She hadn't known how carried away Snotlout was going to get.

She knew Hiccup needed them now, but she made a mental note to give Snotlout a piece of her mind later.

She was jerked out of her thoughts by the sound of a sharp, wet splat and when she looked around, she saw it was Fishlegs – he'd thrown up in the bushes.

"We'll need to get Gothi," Snotlout said in a very shaky, quiet voice. "Do you think you can do it, Fishlegs?"

Looking very green, Fishlegs nodded and was out of the clearing in no time flat – he had never had the strongest stomach when it came to medical experience.

As his footsteps sounded away into the dark night, Snotlout found himself wondering morbidly how long it would be before he heard Hiccup's footsteps again.

"Will you two go and tell Stoick?" he asked. Astrid caught a slightly shaky note in his voice and glanced quickly up at him, but his eyes were fixed on the twins. His hands were clenched into fists, his knuckles white, his hands shaking.

The twins didn't seem terribly enthusiastic about this and Tuffnut even asked, "Why can't you?"

"Just do it," Snotlout replied, not even bothering to respond and he turned back to look over Hiccup's leg again, even though he knew now that there was nothing more he could do for it, nothing at all.

If his cousin never walked again, it would be entirely his fault.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

* * *

She walked fast, eager to get there, not caring who answered, determined to demand an explanation from him the instant she saw him…

But as she broke into a run, she collided with the boy she looked for, and he sat there, dazed, in the street for a long second or two, rubbing his head.

"Watch where you're going, will you?" Snotlout demanded angrily, before realizing it was Astrid and calming down slightly. "Oh. Hi, Astrid."

Astrid didn't bother with the pleasantries. "What were you thinking?" she stood and began going over to him and was pleased to see him backing away. He knew what those fists could do better than anyone in the village, probably even better than Hiccup.

"Did you think it would be _funny?"_ Astrid demanded. With half of her hair falling out of her normally clean, well-kept braid and with her clothes looking grungier and dirtier than usual, with dirt and twigs in her hair and smudged on her face, she looked almost insane. "Did you think _scaring him like that _was funny?! Was that _funny_ to you? Was that amusing? Did you _like_ that? _Are you happy now?_ _He's been mumbling about Outcasts in the forest for the past half hour because of you!" _

Snotlout actually flinched.

"YOU ARE DESPICABLE!" Astrid boomed. "DID YOU THINK IT WOULD BE FUNNY?!"

Snotlout didn't speak, just shook his head silently.

"ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?" she yelled, coming toward him and striking the first blow, hard, on his shoulder.

He didn't move or give any indication that she'd hurt him, and somehow him taking her anger in silence made her even angrier, because _damn it, he hurt Hiccup and he should be the one hurting._

"YOU DISGUST ME, SNOTLOUT JORGENSON!" she yelled and she gave him a shove and when he still didn't react, she began raining punch after punch on him.

"GOTHI – SAID – HE – MIGHT – NEVER – WALK – AGAIN – she punctuated every word with a punch, a kick, a jab. "— AND – IF – THAT – HAPPENS – IT – WILL – BE – ALL – YOUR – FAULT – DO YOU HEAR ME?!" Out of energy, out of strength, but still full of that aggressive anger she still longed to take out on Snotlout, she quit punching him. He'd barely moved from his spot, he didn't even look up at her. He just stared determinedly at the ground, as if he thought pulling the kicked-puppy act might win him some pity.

"YOU DISGUST ME!" she yelled again, breathing hard. "AND DO YOU KNOW WHAT I'M GOING TO DO, SNOTLOUT JORGENSON?!"

Snotlout shook his head almost imperceptibly.

"I AM GOING TO TELL STOICK THE VAST EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED TO HIS SON AND HOW IT HAPPENED!" A few seconds later and she was back to punching Snotlout again. _"I hope you never get within a hundred feet of Hiccup again." _

And then she departed the scene, running away, leaving Snotlout standing there, staring blankly after her, wondering what had just happened.

Just before she disappeared over to the chief's house a few feet away, Snotlout thought he heard a quickly muffled sob, but he couldn't be sure.

* * *

Stoick listened to the story in silence and when Astrid was finished, he nodded. "Thank you for telling me this, Astrid."

"I hope you don't hate me for participating, sir," Astrid mumbled shame-facedly. "I had no idea what they were really planning, I thought they were only going to jump out and scare Hiccup…I should've known…_Snotlout_…"

"I understand that you took no part in this, Astrid, and I forgive you for what part you did take," Stoick said, holding up a hand to stop her.

Astrid breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, sir."

"However," and Stoick's thick brows drew down to form a very thunderous scowl indeed, "I shall be speaking to Snotlout about this."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

**A/N: Well, firstly, this is on a borrowed computer, folks! I very much hope to use this 'borrowed computer' in the future, but if I cannot, well, then *shrugs***

**Secondly, this is dedicated to one of my most loyal readers and reviewers, RazzlePazzleDooDot, who very kindly informed me on a different story that she has a birthday tomorrow! Let's all wish her a very happy birthday and I hope she likes my surprise present! :D it's a bit early! **

* * *

Snotlout supposed he should've known better than to go directly to Hiccup's house, but in his defense, he wasn't thinking clearly after his confrontation with Astrid.

He knocked on the door and waited while he heard the shuffling, heavy footsteps of his chief across the floor. He hadn't been face-to-face with Stoick since last night, when they'd removed Hiccup from the forest and, when the chief opened the door, Snotlout almost wished he wasn't standing there now.

"Um…hi," he squeaked awkwardly. "Is…is Hiccup home?" He realized it was a stupid question the moment he asked it. With his leg in the state that it was, where else could he possibly be? On a nice flight with his dragon?

Stoick's brows drew down. "Stay away from him."

"Sir…" Snotlout began weakly. "I…I didn't mean—

"Get away," Stoick hissed. "Unless you'd like me to make you."

Snotlout decided he wouldn't like that. Stoick slammed the door shut, hard, as Snotlout scampered off the porch.

He looked back at the house, nothing for company but the guilt in his stomach and the cold November air, making him feel even smaller and more alone than he had when he'd first walked up to the door.

* * *

Hiccup had awoken early that morning to an aching, burning pain in his leg, but unsure what had caused it. He had wondered if perhaps he had not bandaged it or cleaned it correctly the night before and then the pain had obliterated all chance of coherent thought.

He was awoken again to the sound of his father, speaking in a voice of cold fury to somebody at the door. "Get away," he said angrily, but in a low voice, as if hoping his son would not hear. "Unless you'd like me to make you."

The tone of his father's voice rattled Hiccup; he had never heard his father speak like that to anybody, not even a villager who pissed him off.

The door slammed shut with such force that the impact seemed to jolt Hiccup slightly, but when his father shuffled back to his bedside and sat down heavily in the chair at his son's bedside only to find the boy awake, the cold anger dissolved. "Are you alright, son?" he whispered. "Are you in pain?" The moment the question fell from his lips, he thought of how stupid it was. His son's leg had been chopped off less than a few weeks ago and then a tree stump had fallen on the barely healed thigh. _Of course_ he was in pain.

"M' alright," Hiccup mumbled, shifting slightly so he could look his father in the eye easier, but this was a mistake; waves of pain rolled through his leg and he cried out suddenly, falling back onto the pillows. He winced, feeling his leg before looking expectantly at his father, fingers still massaging the injured stump, unsure whether this was making it better or worse. "What happened with Alvin, anyway? I mean, all that stuff…the Outcasts…" his face darkened. "What happened with them?"

"Son," Stoick explained gently, "there were no Outcasts." But his mouth had thinned, Hiccup noticed, as if he was wondering if Hiccup thought Alvin had the nerve to invade his home.

"But…Alvin…the forest…was that a dream?" Hiccup whispered, suddenly scared that he was losing his mind.

"No," Stoick replied harshly. "That was no dream, Hiccup."

"Then—?" Stoick looked so angry that Hiccup let the sentence falter, but secretly hoped his dad would answer it for him still. He burned with curiosity; if it hadn't been a dream, but there hadn't really been Outcasts, then why did Stoick look so angry?

"Those were your friends," Stoick put a harsh emphasis on friends, but he didn't seem angry with anybody, leaving the boy to wonder if he had been expected to control them.

"Dad—?"  
"They pretended to be Outcasts to trick you," Stoick interrupted his son before he could finish speaking. "They said it was a Halloween prank."

"What?" Hiccup gave a half-laugh. "They wouldn't— he stopped himself. After some consideration, he had to admit this did sound exactly like something Snotlout would do.

"But…they didn't…" he stopped again. "Then what happened to my leg?" he winced a little as he shifted position again. Even when he wasn't moving, the stump still ached and throbbed badly.

"A tree," Stoick replied shortly. "It fell on your leg." His eyes softened slightly. There was no fierce anger or 'fear me' vibe to the Viking chief anymore, because he was no longer a Viking chief. Now, he was simply a father trying to comfort his only son. "I'm so sorry, son."

"Was that part of the prank, too?" Hiccup asked in a small voice. "Did…did they mean to make the tree fall on me?"

Stoick's shoulders slumped. "I don't think it was their intention to have you physically injured. But the idea alone…" and then he trailed off, his face resuming the furious look.

Before either Hiccup or Stoick could say anything more, there was another knock on the door. Hiccup thought he heard Stoick mutter something about putting Snotlout's head through a wall before jerking open the door.

"I'm s-sorry!" wailed Fishlegs, pushing past Stoick and bursting into the house. He gazed down at Hiccup's bedside, looking ready to cry. "We didn't mean to do it! I didn't want to do it! Snotlout…he…"

"Yeah," Hiccup whispered. "I know. It's okay, Fishlegs." He sent his dad a look, like, 'this one doesn't need his head through a wall'.

"Your leg…I mean…I'm sorry." Fishlegs gestured awkwardly at the limp form of his friend beneath the blankets.

"It's okay." Hiccup nodded. "You're alright, Fishlegs. I know you wouldn't have thought something like this up and it probably wasn't your idea to participate in the first place." Hiccup reflected that it was pretty hard to stay mad at somebody who looked ready to cry and who actually looked remorseful.

"No, it wasn't," Fishlegs admitted. "But I probably should have, you know…warned you…"

"It's okay, 'Legs…" Hiccup offered his friend a weak smile, trying not to show how badly his leg was hurting him. Fishlegs felt terrible enough, he reminded himself. "So…it—it was Snotlout's idea, then?" he forced himself to ask the question.

"Yes," Fishlegs informed him. "Snotlout didn't really tell us what was going to happen. He was really vague about it, like he didn't want us to know. Probably because he thought we'd tell you, which we would have, of course. I should've done that anyway, but he made it sound innocent…simple, you know…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Hiccup responded. "It's alright."

"Astrid's furious," Fishlegs said in a hollow voice. "Everybody could hear her screaming at Snotlout…she…" he stopped himself and shrugged uncomfortably. "Well…"

In an effort to change the subject, Hiccup said, "Eh, it'll be fine, 'Legs. It always is. I lost this leg a couple weeks back and it hasn't held me back from anything." He offered his friend a wide grin that he did not feel.

Fishlegs dropped his gaze to the ground. "Has…has Gothi…has she given you the verdict?" he seemed to lower his voice as he said it, as if afraid of being overheard, though of course that was perfectly silly, Hiccup reflected.

"Um…well…I haven't seen her, so no," Hiccup admitted. "But…there's no verdict to give, is there, Fishlegs?"

"There is, Hiccup," he whispered. "She says that you…you might…" he swallowed. "You might not ever regain the ability to walk. Ever." he added the last part in a desperate attempt to show Hiccup just how bad the situation looked.

To his surprise, Hiccup glanced at Toothless. And then, he simply shrugged. "I'll walk," he said confidently. "With Toothless, I'll walk."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

**I'm sorry. It's short. Nano story. I granted myself a break from it because I hit 32k so, you guys get this. All my writer buddies are jealous and I am hiding out in fanfiction. **

* * *

Stoick had meant to oversee Hiccup for the rest of that day, but, unfortunately, he was called away from this by Mildew.

The last thing Hiccup heard before Stoick slammed the door behind him was Mildew yelling something about his cabbage.

This is what led Hiccup to gently remove his blankets and roll up the leg of his pants. He noticed Toothless out of the corner of his eye, giving him a stern look. Hiccup looked quickly away from him again, massaging his leg with his fingers. He pushed himself up from the bed using the bedpost and leaned heavily on his one good leg. He only made it a step before Toothless was around the other side of the bed with Hiccup, glaring at him sternly. He used his nose to push Hiccup back onto the bed.

Hiccup fell back on his butt and glared at his dragon, opening his mouth to make a nice argument before a knock came at the door. Toothless hissed and growled at the door, as if trying to tell the person that his rider was busy being foolish and to please come back later.

"Help me, bud?" Hiccup asked, gesturing to his leg.

Toothless didn't look happy about it, but he reflected that he'd much rather help Hiccup and ease the pain than have him seriously hurt himself.

Hiccup leaned mostly on Toothless the whole way to the door opened it and leaned heavily against the frame. The walking made his leg throb, but it felt good to be up out of bed after a day doing nothing.

And then the good feeling vanished.

Snotlout was standing on his doorstep and he looked pleadingly at Hiccup.

At first, Hiccup would not have believed his father when the man had told him that his friends had done this to him, but one look at Snotlout told him all he needed to know: the chief had told the truth.

"I…Hiccup…" Snotlout managed weakly.

Hiccup felt like the boy was repeatedly punching him in the gut with every word he spoke. He didn't want to fly off the handle or cry or overreact in any possible way and he decided the safest option was to just shut the door and pretend like this never happened. He nodded, a little curtly, a little coldly, and moved to shut the door.

"Wait!" Snotlout blurted and Hiccup did, hoping for an explanation maybe, or an apology. But Snotlout's next words blasted this hope away. "Did they fix your leg?"

It took Hiccup a second to understand what he was asking and when he did, his hands flew instantly, protectively, to his leg. Back inside the house, he could hear Toothless growling.

Hiccup could feel his cheeks burning and his throat seared painfully. He wanted to say something to Snotlout, anything at all – but everything he tried to say ended up trembling and breaking halfway through, so he went with the safest option, the thing he said whenever he wanted to hide the pain. "Thank you _for summing that up_," he snapped and he did slam the door then and Toothless growled at it and the boy limped back to bed, rubbing his leg and wishing he'd never opened the door.


End file.
